Part 4 of 4: Will IBM Now “Flash Ahead”?

The overall effect is to effectively convey that this is truly an initiative for IBM (akin to its recent Analytics announcements) and not just Big Blue donning the latest trendy fashion. In so doing, it will probably help create the sort of rising tide syndrome that could lift all boats: After all, it is addressing flash as a true long-term paradigm shift and not just a great short-term opportunistic technology. Of course, that won’t harm its own prospects either, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Much of its announcement focused on the elements—including effective TCO, software, and durability amongst others—that it would use to fight the flash-meritocracy battle. Yet although IBM is no longer the sole determinate of all-things-storage, it remains an IT behemoth and therefore still carries significant weight when it speaks this loud.